


Crescendo

by SociallyAwkwardFox (Maze_Runner_Fae)



Series: YOI Week 2017 [1]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Beginnings, Firsts, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Happy Birthday, Ice Skating, M/M, Musical inspiration, Opening/Ending, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-07
Updated: 2017-01-07
Packaged: 2018-09-15 11:13:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9232376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maze_Runner_Fae/pseuds/SociallyAwkwardFox
Summary: Guang-Hong performs a program inspired by the way his relationship with Leo has changed over the years and remembers some of the moments they’ve spent together.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Options: A, C, D. Listened to Duet for two Solo Violins and String Orchestra (Dedicated to and written for Yehudi Menuhin) by Steve Reich and Kristjan Järvi (found on Spotify) while imagining his performance. Enjoy!

It started abruptly. Two violins coming together in a beautiful duet. Playfully dancing around with one another. Getting to know each other and feeding off the music the other created. It was what drew him to the piece in the first place. It pulled him in, keeping him captivated by the familiarity of it. A story came together in his head. One he knew very well because he lived it.

His body twisted in a tight spin, that made him feel like he might fall at any second if he wasn’t careful enough. A recreation of the day he met Leo. Running headlong into the other boy, feeling his body start to lose control, then a tight arm wrapped around his waist. He still remembered his initial embarrassment and thinking how cliché it must have seemed to an outsider. His cheeks had probably turned red, but Leo didn’t laugh at him. The other boy had spun him around, like they were dancing to music no one else could hear.

The next moves were easy. A combination of him and Leo. Snippets of the first performances they’d ever seen the other do live, pieced together into a graceful dance across the ice. His blades slipped across the ice effortlessly and his arms weaved through the air in well-rehearsed movements that were more Leo than him. A tribute to the very start of their friendship. One that continues to change his life.

* * *

Guang-Hong bit his lip nervously as he glanced at the familiar boy standing beside him on the podium. His brown hair clung to his forehead and his cheeks were flushed from exertion, but the huge smile on his face made it obvious he wasn’t feeling it. The gold medal hanging from his neck glimmered under the lights of the rink and his eyes shone with pure happiness. His body moved side to side with music only he could hear as the announcer repeated the winners once more, then gave a cheery wave before they were dismissed.

When his eyes landed on Guang-Hong, a blush erupted on the younger boy’s face and he fought the urge to cover it with his hands. The boy smiled in response, then wrapped a friendly arm around Guang-Hong’s shoulder and gave a little squeeze. Before either of them could say anything, a woman holding a camera told them to smile and snapped a quick photo of the two. Later he would use the picture for his phone background, but in the moment he was too nervous to enjoy it for what it was: the start of a beautiful friendship.

“Your name’s Guang-Hong, right?” Unable to speak because of the lump in his throat, Guang-Hong nodded his head in reply. “Is this your first year in the junior division? You did really well!”

“Um, thanks. I really liked the music for your free skate. It was really upbeat.”

“Picking the music is my favorite part! It’s the reason I love skating.”

“Mine is how invincible it makes me feel. It’s comforting.”

“That’s a pretty great reason. It shows in your skating. You’re really talented.”

“So are you.”

A bright smile appeared on Leo’s face, then he looked over Guang-Hong’s head and made a wait motion with his hand. “I need to go, but we should exchange numbers! We’ll probably have more competitions together and it’ll be nice to have a friend.”

“That does sound really nice.”

* * *

He landed the first jump with ease. A triple he’d nailed a million times before. A jump he was confident in. One Leo had talked him through when he was learning it and came away from practice frustrated at his inability to do it. It never failed to surprise him how at ease he felt whenever Leo was there to talk him through things. Even if he couldn’t actually be there, just talking to him was enough. That was how Guang-Hong knew they’d moved from being casual friends to good friends-maybe best friends.

Realizing that had been a punch in the gut. He’d had friends before, but someone he could talk to about anything was something completely new. His fears, his hopes, his dreams. Leo would never laugh or try to rationalize why it just wouldn’t be possible. The older boy would simply smile and encourage him to keep going. To be bigger and better. To be the best he possibly could. To be who he wanted to be. It’d been something he didn’t know he needed in his life until he had it.

* * *

Leo appeared on the screen with his headphones on and his phone shining light brightly on his face as he smiled down at it. The moment he looked up, he pulled one of the buds out of his ear and waved excitedly at the camera. Guang-Hong shyly waved back, then waited for Leo to finish whatever he was doing on his phone before he spoke.

“Hey.”

“Hi! How was practice?”

“Great. I finally have my short program down. I just need to polish it up.”

“And the jump?” The excitement on Leo’s face had Guang-Hong smiling brightly in response and nodding his head. “I knew it! What did I tell you?”

“That I could do it.”

“And you did! You’re going to be incredible this season. I just know it.”

“You will be, too.”

“We both will and we’ll stand on at least one podium together. I just know it!”

“I hope so. It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other.”

Leo motioned between the screen and himself, then smiled knowingly. “I know what you mean. It’s not the same. Maybe we’ll both end up in the Cup of China. You could show me around!”

“I just hope we can compete together. Next year you’ll be in the senior division and I’ll still be in the junior division.”

“We could still end up at the same competitions.”

“But it won’t be the same.” He pushed the mouse around on his desk, so Leo wouldn’t be able to see how upset he was.

“True, but in a few years you’ll be in the senior division with me. It won’t be that long.”

“I guess.”

“Until then, we’ll both work as hard as we can to make sure we get to the Grand Prix this year! That way, we’re guaranteed to have at least one together.”

“Okay.”

“Great! Now, what did you think of the show?”

Guang-Hong laughed brightly and rolled his eyes at his friend. “It was pretty good.”

“See! I would never steer you wrong!”

“I know.”

* * *

The next part of his program was the part he hated to think about. Time between competition they were both competing in together was a fickle thing. Sometimes they would go months without seeing each other in person and their training schedules and time difference would make video chats and phone calls nearly impossible. Those were the months he found himself dreading because, more often than not, he felt lonely.

His combination spin went off flawlessly followed by an arabesque across the ice, then a combination jump. A perfect quad, a flip, a triple he nailed. He could feel the momentum building in himself and the music. Leo had been the one to open his eyes to the music. Long conversations about the subject had opened Guang-Hong’s mind to the endless possibilities of music. It had been one of the first things they had bonded over and one of their favorites.

* * *

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Guang-Hong pulled the collar of his hoodie over his mouth and looked down at his keyboard. “Really. The piece is great. I’m sure there are plenty of people who would love to use it.”

“But you don’t want to. That’s what matters. You don’t have to like every song given to you. What is it about this one you don’t like?”

“I don’t know. It’s nothing. It’ll be great.”

“Music is supposed to make you feel. It’s meant to bring out emotion in you. Do you feel anything when you listen to it?”

He shrugged his shoulders and glanced up at the screen to find Leo watching him intently. “Not really or maybe I do and I don’t like it. It’s kind of… lonely. I guess. It doesn’t make me excited to perform.”

“You should tell your coach that.”

“But it took them so long to find it.”

“Why don’t you find your own? I pick my own music.”

“I suppose I could, but only if you help me.” When Guang-Hong looked up, he was happy to see the excited look on his friend’s face. “Do you have time now?”

“I should get to sleep.”

“Oh, okay. Some other time.”

“I said I should, not that I’m going to. Let’s get started. What are you wanting to do?”

“Well, I’ve always wanted to do something with a story.”

Leo smiled brightly at him, then picked up his phone and started typing furiously on the illuminated screen. “This is going to be so much fun!”

* * *

As the music grew steadily louder, Guang-Hong could feel the mood of the music changing along with the story. Two people finding their way together in a different way than ever before. A way that made them both feel unstoppable. Their eyes now open to where their relationship had been leading them to from the very beginning. A cliché meeting that took years instead of seconds to figure out that the person they wanted to be with was right in front of them.

His body moved fluidly across the ice as he let himself get lost in the music and the memories and the feeling. Every jump felt higher and every move more precise than ever before. He didn’t need to look to know Leo was watching him with that proud smile he always wore whenever Guang-Hong was proving him right. His faith, his trust, and his love. That’s what he said that night and every night since then.

He was speeding toward the finish now. Soon it would be over, but just like the story, his life would continue. The music would stop and he’d never have any real reason to skate this program again, but he’d find new music and skate a new program and some things would stay the same while others changed. Just as their relationship had blossomed from friendship into a romance that Guang-Hong knew would continue to grow stronger. He felt it in his bones and knew it with every brain cell he had.

* * *

“Happy birthday!” Guang-Hong immediately slammed the door shut, then opened it right back up to find his mind wasn’t playing tricks on him. “Happy birthday?”

“How?”

“How what?”

“You’re here. In China. What?”

“Surprise!”

Tears started to build up in his eyes, making the smile on Leo’s face look a little wobbly. “You came all the way to China to surprise me for my birthday?”

“Of course! Why wouldn’t I?”

“That’s a long way to travel for someone’s birthday. You could have just called. It would have been fine.”

“I didn’t want to call. I wanted to come. Telling you happy birthday over video chat and watching you open your present isn’t the same and I think we’re both old enough to admit it’s not enough anymore.”

“What does that mean?”

Leo stepped into Guang-Hong’s small apartment and shut the door behind him with a soft click. His soft hands gently guided the smaller man’s face up, then he leaned in close enough Guang-Hong could feel his breath against his lips. The distance should have felt too close, but all he could think was how much better it would be if Leo leaned that last bit closer. As if he could read his mind, Leo closed the short distance between their lips.

Nothing could have prepared him for the electric feeling that ran through his body at the soft brush of their lips against each other. Just like when they first became friends, he suddenly felt like something he didn’t know was missing finally filled a hole in his life. It felt right that Leo was now both his best friend and his significant other. It made sense the same way the stories he heard in music did.

“Happy birthday.”

“Very.”

Leo laughed loudly, then pulled him in for another kiss. This one longer and deeper. He could feel this one in his toes and the tips of his fingers. A bone deep tingling that he never wanted to end. It felt like home and life and love. It felt like skating freely across the ice without a care in the world. It felt right.

* * *

His chest heaved from exertion. His arms thrown wide, as if he were waiting for someone to fill them. Sweat dripped slowly down the side of his face and all the muscles in his body felt like they were on fire, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was finding Leo in the crowd of people surrounding the rink.

The moment their eyes met, he let out a loud laugh and pushed his body to get off the rink as quickly as possible. There was no tackle kiss onto the ice like with Yuuri and Victor, but their bodies collided together hard enough for Guang-Hong to nearly lose his balance and drag them both down. Like the first time they met, only Leo’s arms around him kept him from falling to the ground. His body suddenly got spun in a quick circle that had his feet well off the ground.

“That was incredible! You looked absolutely gorgeous out there.”

“Did you like it?”

“Like it?” Leo framed Guang-Hong’s face with his hands, then brought their foreheads together so they had to look each other in the eye. “I loved it. Thank you.”

“I need to get to the kiss and cry, but after-”

“After I’m going to kiss you, until you tell me I can’t.”

“That might be a while.”

With a little wink, Leo leaned down to press a quick kiss to the tip of Guang-Hong’s nose. “I have all the time in the world for you.”

“And I you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all liked it! Check back tomorrow for more!


End file.
